


Dining with the Enemy

by Providence26



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 03:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13515510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Providence26/pseuds/Providence26
Summary: From an idea that would not leave my head





	Dining with the Enemy

When Alex Cabot had finally agreed to accompany Trevor Langan on a date she had no idea that she would be confronted by two of her best detectives, and from the looks on their faces, they were two pissed off and betrayed detectives.

She hadn’t even wanted to be here, but she was lonely, and it had been such a long time since anyone had asked her to do anything, that she agreed.

“Dining with the enemy, Counselor?”

Ouch, that one hurt. Sucking in a deep breath and barreling through the sudden pain and void in her chest she agreed to get them their warrant,

As the detectives departed, Trevor asked if she wanted dessert, “Sorry Trevor, this was a mistake, I am going to go home, thank you for a lovely dinner.”

“Alex, wait what happened?”

“This is a line I am not prepared to cross, my apologies.”

Three days later Alex exited the courtroom where she had just lost a case to Trevor, to find the victim outside being comforted by two of her detectives, hesitating for a few seconds, she gave Trevor time to catch up to her.

“Bad luck, Alex, you can’t win them all,” he said clasping her elbow and leaning in to her.

Alex hadn’t taken her eyes off the victim, Alison Taylor, and her detectives, she hadn’t seen the detectives since the restaurant, she knew they were avoiding her, and it was at this moment that they looked up to see her fraternizing yet again with the opposition and turned their backs to her.

“Sorry, Trevor, I have to go.”

Alex avoided speaking to anyone else on her way back to the office, just as she was almost safely at her office she was called in to her boss’s office.

“What do you need, Liz?”

“Sit.”

Complying Alex took a seat and waited whilst Liz silently appraised her.

Finally, after seemingly being unable to get any answers from studying her visually, Liz asked, “Have you lost your mind?”

“Pardon?”

“Trevor Langan? You’re dating Trevor Langan? What happened to your candle you were holding for the lovely Detective Benson?”

“Liz,” Alex whined.

“It’s a serious question, I genuinely want to know. I have watched you watch her for awhile now, you talk about her almost incessantly, so you date a person she deems as scum of the earth? Explain to me how that works in your brain.”

“I was lonely, he asked. She never asks.”

A few more seconds pass as Liz continues to look at Alex as though she is the most baffling creature on earth.

“So whilst waiting for the woman you love to ask you out, you date a man she has no respect for and would happily castrate, and three days later you lose a slam dunk case to him, and are then seen chatting to him on the court steps in front of the victim? Yep, I can see how that would be a logical step in your plan to woo the woman of your dreams.”

“How did you know about after court?”

“Oh please, there is no faster grapevine in the world than the NY court gossips.”

“I didn’t throw the case.”

“If I thought you did, you wouldn’t have been allowed back into the building. But just because I know that, doesn’t mean the others do. It looks from the outside that you just threw a case for your boyfriend.”

“He is not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever you say. I hope you know what you are doing, Alex. But know this, whatever this ‘thing’ is with Trevor, if it affects the cases or the unit in anyway, it will be you that is removed, not them, you cannot expect to date an attorney who defends rape suspects and expect the cops who arrest his clients to respect you, just doesn’t work that way. You might want to think it over. Dismissed, Counselor.”

That afternoon saw no fewer than four other defense attorneys with cases lined up against her, ask her out for dinner, the infamous court grapevine was definitely in overdrive. Having had enough of the cold shoulder from the detectives of the 1-6 she decided to invite her self for drinks, she knew they would be consoling themselves after today’s loss at the cop hangout just by the precinct. 

Finding them at their usual table she gathered all her courage and walked with determination over to them, “Good evening detectives, Captain.”

They hadn’t noticed her arrival, and as soon as they heard her voice an icy silence descended, broken swiftly by Detective Stabler 'reminding’ Detective Benson that they were going to be late for Kathy’s pot roast night if they didn’t leave immediately, they were swiftly followed by Detectives Munch and Tutuola who just mumbled about other commitments.

Leaving Alex standing next to a table with just the seated squad captain and an almost full pitcher of beer in front of him.

“You had best take a seat, Counselor.”

“It’s okay, I will just go.”

“Sit down, Alex. We can either chat here or we can do it on company time tomorrow.”

Feeling as though she was about to get her second lecture in one day she just slumped ungracefully into a chair.

“They hate me.”

“They don’t hate you.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“They don’t trust easily, they don’t give their respect easily. We’re a close unit, you’ve seen what we deal with, we have had to fight hard to be taken seriously, for the victims to be taken seriously. We don’t often get good ADAs representing us. It took a lot for them to let you in, to trust and respect you. But you did, you earned it, and they saw you as part of the team. Let me ask you this Alex, if you saw, say Olivia for example, on a date with a suspect or a defense attorney, what you would you think?”

“I wouldn’t think less of her.”

“Really, so you wouldn’t think that their pillow talk is going to be interesting, or that her loyalty is going to be divided?”

“ I would never tell…”

“I know Alex, if I thought you had I would have already made a request for you to be transferred to another department. I don’t know what you see in him, but if he is the one you want then I think you need to give serious thoughts to moving to another department. My detectives will be civil to you, they will work with you, but I cannot order them to trust you. They will treat you with courtesy and respect, whether or not you can actually earn that respect back, I don’t know.”

“But I didn’t do anything, it was just dinner.”

“And three days later you lost a case that should have been the easiest win of your career, perhaps you would like to explain to Alison how you were at dinner with her rapist’s defense attorney a mere three days prior to his not guilty verdict. Do you think she is going to believe you? If he is worth it, if he is the one, then you need to seriously think about your future as SVU’s ADA. You aren’t going to be able to have both.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Don added, “It’s funny though, I could have sworn you had a crush on Liv.”

As Alex visibly paled, he continued, “Oh, I was right, well Cabot, I will say one thing for you, when you mess up, you mess up big time.”


End file.
